Results of the study showed that nurse participants had moderate levels of organizational justice, corporate social responsibility, and job satisfaction. The levels of job satisfaction among nurse participants are comparable to other studies that also assessed the level of job satisfaction in other Jordanian healthcare settings (Abdelhafiz et al., 2016; Mansour and Abu Sharour, 2021). This findings suggest some extent of similarity in terms of how satisfied and fulfilled Jordanian nurses feel about their jobs. In addition, a moderate level of job satisfaction suggests room for improvement for healthcare organizations to explore strategies that can further boost nurses’ sense of achievement. However, the study was not able to explore whether job satisfaction differed among nurses working in different types of healthcare institutions within Jordan (i.e., private versus public) as other studies were able to show. Examining possible differences on the level of job satisfaction based on the typeof hospital or healthcare setting can help identify factors that can influence work environments to become conducive places for nurses to carry out their tasks and responsibilities (Niskala et al., 2020). Literature suggests that beyond sociodemographic characteristics, job satisfaction can also be influenced by structural empowerment, organizational commitment, professional commitment, social capital, ethnic background, and organizational culture (Hu et al., 2019).
As for organizational justice and corporate social responsibility, this study demonstrated the first attempt to measure these concepts among Jordanian nurses. This is not unusual since literature suggests that the concepts of organizational justice and corporate social responsibility are more rooted in the areas of business and management than in healthcare (Lonnqvist et al., 2019; Galbreath, 2010). The study was able to contribute to the scarce body of evidence in these areas thus supporting the steady appreciation of the value of organizational justice and corporate social responsibility in the daily activities of healthcare organizations. Knowing that nurses had moderate levels of organizational justice and corporate social responsibility not only strongly suggests that Jordanian work environments are already fair, just and socially responsible to start with but also have opportunities to better improve the integrity and accountability of its processes.
Some suggested strategies to improve organizational justice are (1) promotion of a culture of respectful communication, (2) implementation of fair policies, and (3) observation of objective procedures in allocating resources, workload, rewards and punishment (Hashish et al., 2020). Likewise, some strategies to improve corporate social responsibility are (1) focusing on drivers and impact of philanthropy on the wider society, (2) implementing effective frameworks for governance and regulation, (3) balancing environmental and societal sustainability with financial and corporate performance, (4) promoting the well-being of employees and customer satisfaction, and (5) linking performance with impact on the environment and natural resources (Tiba et al., 2018).
Female nurses were found to have significantly higher levels of ethical corporate social responsibility than male nurses. Because of the limited scope of the study, results were not able to elaborate on why this might be so. However, while limited to studies performed in business and management, literature does offer some evidence for conjecture. The significantly higher level of ethical understanding among female nurses might stem from their better appreciation of morality and social responsibility. This is not to say that male nurses are unethical or immoral – only, that because of their kinder, more caring nature, and better ability to socialize effectively with other people and the wider community, female nurses feel more obligated to observe and practice what is morally right compared to their male counterparts (Cronqvist and Yu, 2017; Seckin-Halac et al., 2021). Another hypothesis is that the higher level of ethical corporate social responsibility among female nurses might be because women tend to better perceive their social role than men, have lesser individualistic tendencies, and have lesser tolerance of misconduct and negative behaviors (Kahreh et al., 2014; Hatch and Stephen, 2015).
No other sociodemographic or professional variables were found to be significantly related or associated with organizational justice, corporate social responsibility, and job satisfaction. The results of the study were similar to those of others that did not find any significant association between sociodemographic characteristics and job satisfaction, except those of annual income and household economic well-being in a cross-sectional study involving 250 healthcare practitioners (Elsherbenny and El-Masry, 2018; Tarcan et al., 2017). On the other hand, Ghasi and colleagues (2020) found only age, gender and marital status as significant sociomodegraphic predictors of procedural and interactional justice, while Akbolat and colleagues (2015) found differences on the levels of organizational justice based only on marital status. The lack of significant associations between sociodemographic characteristics and the three variables suggest the presence of other factors that might influence the levels of organizational justice, corporate social responsibility, and job satisfaction.
Following on this, this poses a significant question as to what other factors might mediate or influence the levels of these variables among nurses working in Jordanian healthcare settings. Identifying these factors will enable nurse managers, policymakers and hospital administrators to create strategies that will not only promote but more importantly sustain justice and social responsibility within healthcare organizations. Moreover, it is necessary to determine whether such factors could have resulted in the already moderate levels of organizational justice and corporate social responsibility at the time the study was conducted, and if the presence of such factors could also improve the level of organizational justice and corporate social responsibility in other Jordanian healthcare institutions.
The study found significantly strong, positive relationships between organizational justice and job satisfaction, corporate social responsibility and job satisfaction, and organizational justice and corporate social responsibility. Again, this study adds important evidence to the sparse body of literature that explored these concepts among Jordanian nurses, given the lack of prior studies in this area. Healthcare organizations that are fair, honest, and objective in their processes, and that are socially responsible with their actions to the public and the wider community, are more likely to have better a better-satisfied nursing workforce. Indirectly, nurses with higher levels of job satisfaction are more likely to demonstrate better job performance, lesser intent to leave, better mental health and well-being, and higher levels of safety and quality patient care (Liu et al., 2016; Li et al., 2018; Putra et al., 2020).
Limitations
One limitation of the study is that it used a self-administered survey, which may allow for subjectivity although it is the most appropriate method that matches the study design. Another limitation is related to the sample of the study in which public hospitals only were targeted. Thus, in the future, including private hospitals will be informative and might provide different perspectives.